Puppy mills

A ban on the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits by retail pet stores will take effect in 2024 in New York State under a bill signed into law today by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

A bill that would ban the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits by retail pet shops in New York has passed both houses of the State Legislature and awaits the governor’s signature.

The owner of Puppy Experience in Aquebogue and the pet dealers advocacy group People United to Protect Pet Integrity have jointly filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Riverhead Town's local law banning the sale by pet stores of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits.

Sportsman’s Kennels in Manorville has sued the Town of Riverhead, challenging the validity of the town’s new pet dealer law. A second lawsuit is coming: An attorney for a pet dealers advocacy group said the group would be filing its own lawsuit in the next few days.

A majority of the Riverhead Town Board said today they will vote tomorrow to pass the proposed pet store legislation that would ban the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits. But a lawyer for a pet dealers group said the bill's passage will be met with a lawsuit.

The town board heard comments Wednesday on a proposal to ban pet stores from selling commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits.

The Riverhead Town Board yesterday voted unanimously to set a public hearing on town code changes to ban the sale of commercially bred dogs and cats — and now, rabbits.

The town board has agreed to set a Sept. 8 public hearing on proposed legislation that would ban the sale of commercially bred dogs and cats in pet stores in the Town of Riverhead.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar responds to online comments she said misrepresented her position on puppy mills, which she said were made by people with a "political agenda."

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar in an Aug. 2 email to the town board said the board should "reconsider to not move this forward," after a pet dealers' advocacy group voiced its opposition to Councilman Ken Rothwell's bill.